No Need for Alternates!
by shanejayell
Summary: Worlds collide in Tenchi's living room...
1. Chapter One

Tenchi Muyo: No Need for Alternates! Part One  
  
It looked like a normal morning at the Masaki household. The mist out on the lake shimmered in the early sunlight, the trees bending gently under the breeze that made small, playful waves out on the water. The house was silent, in all appearances an oasis of peace and tranquillity.  
  
Appearances, sadly, can be deceiving.  
  
Ryouko sighed to herself softly, gently holding the other warm body in the bed close to her own. In the haze of sleep she snuggled a bit closer, but as she began to wake up, certain inconvenient questions began to disturb her rest.  
  
'Tenchi wouldn't try to sneak in to see me, would he?' Ryouko thought to herself blurrily, her eyes still closed. Softly she asked, "Tenchi?"  
  
"Sorry, try again," the clearly amused and obviously female voice said, sounding like she was right in front of Ryouko's face.  
  
Ryouko's eyes popped open involuntarily, gazing in shock at the pretty, pink haired woman laying in the bed right beside her. She looked a lot like the Jurai empress Misaki, but not quite the same... A shaken Ryouko blurted out, "Sasami?"  
  
"Good morning, Ryouko," the smiling and clearly adult Sasami said, moving forward a bit to gently kiss the stunned Ryouko on the lips even as she firmly pressed a very grown up and quite well developed body up against hers.  
  
Ryouko did the first thing that came to mind, she tried to push her back as gently as possible while she shouted, "Tenchi!"  
  
A few moments later Tenchi ran in the bedroom, Ayeka following right behind the dark haired young man. Various banging noises they heard from around the house indicated that her shout had roused the others, as well.  
  
"What is it?" Tenchi started to ask, then he stopped, looking wide eyed at the two figures laying on the bed.  
  
"Mother?" a badly shaken Ayeka asked tentatively. The dark purple haired girl blinked, then sounding much more indignant she said, "Sasami?!"  
  
"Yes?" two voices said at almost the same time.  
  
One of the answers was from the older Sasami laying there in bed with Ryouko, the other came from just behind Ayeka. The younger Sasami looked up at her elder sister curiously, then her eyes grew wider as she saw her older self, too.  
  
"Hi," the younger Sasami smiled.  
  
Noticing Ayeka's glare Ryouko quickly scrambled out of her bed, and the older Sasami made a soft disappointed sound. "But I thought that you liked me waking you up in the morning," a pouting Sasami complained cutely.  
  
"Wow," a sleepy looking Mihoshi blinked, looking very confused as she gazed back and forth between the two versions of Sasami. The blonde's hair was standing up, and her blush was evident even on her dark skin.  
  
"What in the world is going on here?" Kiyone asked them all, both the black haired lady and Mihoshi still dressed in their pajamas with their robes wrapped around them.  
  
"I don't know," Ryouko scowled, "but I have a pretty good idea who's responsible for this."  
  
Tenshi, Ayeka and Ryouko both took a deep breath and yelled at almost the same time, "Washu!"  
  
Not long afterward, everyone was dressed and standing in Washu's lab. The former storage room stretched off into the distance, machinery of various and unknown functions stretching out all around them, filling up the almost infinite space.  
  
They stood there looking rather uncomfortable while the small, redheaded scientist in front of them paced back and forth and ranted at them angrily, if kind of cutely. "Why does everyone blame me when things like this happen? I don't even have any experiments running right now," she complained, waving her hands in the air.  
  
"I'm sorry," Ayeka spoke up.  
  
"She may not have any experiments running," a soft voice came from just behind them, "but I think that I do." They all turned around to see an elfish looking woman walking towards where they were all standing.  
  
"Yume," the older Sasami beamed at her, "nice to see you again." She was keeping a firm grip on Ryouko's arm, to her great discomfort.  
  
"Would you please let me go?" Ryouko pleaded. She was mildly surprised at how well Sasami was holding on to her. 'She must take after Misaki,' she thought, thinking about Sasami's mother's death grip hugs.  
  
"But you're my snuggle-bunny," Sasami protested cutely, pulling Ryouko even more firmly into her arms.  
  
Ayeka chuckled softly, getting a glare from Ryouko.  
  
Choosing to ignore Ryouko and Sasami's little talk, Washu cautiously asked Yume, "What exactly did you do?"  
  
"Well, you did say I could use your equipment while I was here," Yume said defensively. Pushing her light brown hair back she confessed, "You see, I was modifying an older piece of your equipment, and there was a sudden power surge..."  
  
The entire group said it almost at once, "The Dimensional Tuner!"  
  
"What about the Dimensional Tuner?" a familiar voice asked them from the open door out into the hallway.  
  
Yet another version of Ryouko and Ayeka stood there together, familiar looking yet subtlety different. Ryouko wore her normal fighting costume, but modified slightly with the addition of a few armor segments. Ayeka looked elegantly formal in her traditional robes of Jurai, standing close to Ryouko's side and holding her arm.  
  
"Who, exactly, are you?" Ryouko blinked, her surprise causing her to stop fighting to get loose of Sasami's death grip on her. For now, anyway.  
  
The other Ryouko quirked an eyebrow at them as she said with a wry smile, "I was about to ask you the same question."  
  
"I asked you first," Ryouko said pointedly.  
  
The armored Ryouko took a deep breath, "I am Ryouko, Empress of Manticore and of the Empire that it rules over."  
  
Her Ayeka was looking thoughtfully over at her twin, but she spoke up, "And I am Ayeka, Queen of Jurai... and her bride."  
  
There was a long moment of dead silence as everyone tried to digest that.  
  
"Alternate probabilities," Washu suddenly blurted out.  
  
Yume nodded thoughtfully, "It seems that the Dimension Tuner must be bringing our reality in synch with various alternate worlds, where events went differently than in the here and now."  
  
"Alternate probable futures, too," Washu noted, looking over at the very grown up Sasami cuddling with a struggling Ryouko.  
  
"Not only do they look like them, they sound just like my mothers, too," Empress Ryouko remarked to her bride softly.  
  
"Mothers?" Yume looked up at her in surprise.  
  
Empress Ryouko nodded, "Yes, you and Washu are my mothers, where I come from." She frowned slightly, "You're not here?"  
  
"Interesting," Washu murmured. She noticed the Empress' question, "Sorry, no."  
  
"Yes, it is interesting, isn't it?" another Washu said thoughtfully. She stood nearly five feet tall, and gazed at her childlike counterpart with an impish smile on her face. She wore a skin tight costume, a white lab coat thrown over it.  
  
"It seems as more time passes, more probabilities appear," Yume noted, adding, "We'd better get started fixing it."  
  
"Sounds like a plan," the smaller Washu agreed, and the three headed off to work, soon to be joined by a fourth figure. Then five.  
  
Tenchi looked over at the two versions of Sasami, Ryouko and Ayeka and asked them, "So what do we do now?"  
  
Mihoshi's stomach growled loudly into the quiet, "Sorry."  
  
"Let's cook everybody breakfast," the older Sasami said to her younger self.  
  
"OK," the younger agreed cheerfully, and the two Sasamis ran off down the hallway together, chatting happily.  
  
"I don't think we've met," Empress Ryouko smiled at Tenchi.  
  
"Tenchi Masaki," he introduced himself, gently shaking her hand.  
  
Queen Ayeka was looking at him curiously for a moment, finally saying, "You look a little like my older brother, Yosho."  
  
"He's sort of my grandfather," Tenchi explained.  
  
"I'm glad he survived, in your world," Queen Ayeka smiled.  
  
"He didn't in yours?" Tenchi went pale, considering that idea.  
  
"Lets go get dressed," Kiyone said to Mihoshi quietly.  
  
"Yeah, we don't want to miss breakfast," Mihoshi said cheerfully. She bounded over to their room, slid open the door, and froze. After a moment, she slid it shut again.  
  
"What?" Kiyone blinked at her, "Why aren't you going in?"  
  
"They're kind of busy," Mihoshi blushed.  
  
Kiyone stepped by her and slid the door open, only to freeze too. There, on the bed, where another version of her and Mihoshi, in a passionate embrace. She quickly slid the door shut. "Let's come back later," she suggested to Mihoshi.  
  
"Right," Mihoshi agreed, a thoughtful look on her face.  
  
"Don't even think about it," Kiyone quickly said.  
  
Two more Ryoukos and Minagis were standing talking together in the hallway as Tenchi led the others into the living room. Both looked pretty normal, except that over their normal clothes they had on aprons.  
  
"Well, I guess Juri will just have to get somebody to sub for us at the Locket until this is fixed," Minagi said with a shrug.  
  
Ryouko frowned, "I hope it's not Excel and Hyatt again." With a scowl she added, "Neither one can mix a drink worth a damn."  
  
Empress Ryouko raised an eyebrow, "Interesting." They left the two to their conversation and trooped in to settle around the low table. She thoughtfully looked over at her counterpart sitting by Tenchi and asked, "So you and Ayeka are pursuing him?"  
  
Both Ryouko and Ayeka nodded.  
  
Queen Ayeka made a face, "I'm sorry, I fail to see the attraction."  
  
"Tenchi's awfully handsome," Mihoshi spoke up in his defense, sitting there alone. Another Mihoshi and Kiyone walked in the room, and her eyes widened. "Kiyone?" she murmured, tears glistening in her large eyes.  
  
"Yes?" Kiyone looked down at her in surprise.  
  
Mihoshi jumped up from her seat, tears streaking her face as she ran from the room. "I'm so sorry," they heard her murmur softly.  
  
"What did I say?" Kiyone blinked.  
  
Little Sasami and big Sasami began carrying the breakfast dishes in, carefully setting them down on the table. The older Sasami smiled sweetly at Ryouko as she set a plate in front of her, "I made all of your favorites."  
  
Ryouko blushed, "Uhm, thank you."  
  
Sasami gently pecked her on the cheek, "You're welcome." She slid into a seat beside her, snuggling close. Ryouko froze, clearly unsure what to do. "What's wrong?" Sasami asked with a little smile on her face. 


	2. Chapter Two

Tenchi Muyo: No Need for Alternates! Part Two  
  
Tenchi watched the two of them and sweatdropped. Quickly finishing off his breakfast he announced, "I think I'll go outside."  
  
Tenchi slid the screen aside and stepped outside, turning back to shut it behind him. He took a step off the porch only to freeze in place. Two different incarnations of himself were fighting it out, one looking vaguely pirate like using Tenchi's old sword, the other dressed just like a Galaxy Police officer and using the Lighthawk sword!  
  
"Stop that," Tenchi cried out.  
  
"Don't you dare interfere with the fight, I've got money on the pirate," a woman's voice called from just above him.  
  
Tenchi looked up to see the roof lined with several different versions of Ryouko, Nagi, Minagi, and Zero. All of them were watching the fight and laying money on who would win, loudly cheering on their favorite.  
  
"I can't believe this," Tenchi muttered.  
  
"I can, very easily," another Minagi noted, shaking her head. An adult Sasami held on to her arm as well, but in this case it was far more willingly.  
  
"It's so romantic, being back on Earth again," Sasami sighed, gently pulling a blushing Minagi down into a kiss.  
  
Tenchi shook his head and decided to go for a walk through the woods and up to the shrine. He was a little startled by how many pairs of Ryouko and Ayeka he stumbled across, but decided not to think about it.  
  
The stone stairway up to the shrine took a bit of effort to climb, but it felt good making his way up there, like a kind of cleansing through effort. He reached the top, only to see several versions of his grandfather talking with each other.  
  
"I tend to think Ryouko has the best set," one offered, politely pouring out a generous amount of sake for his compatriots.  
  
They each slugged back their drinks in a single go, gasping softly. "Possibly," another nodded, "but I think Mihoshi's have the most bounce."  
  
"Ayeka's are a bit smaller," a third offered, "but certainly perky."  
  
All three nodded thoughtfully at that.  
  
Tenchi turned right around and headed back down the steps, firmly telling himself over and over that they could not have been talking about what he thought they were talking about. At least, he certainly hoped they weren't.  
  
As he descended the steps Tenchi noticed a dark haired girl sitting on one of the steps, talking cheerfully to one of the many versions of Ryouko. "Hi," Tenchi politely offered her his hand, "I don't think we've met before."  
  
"No, we haven't," she shook it firmly, adding with a pleasant smile, "My name is Tenchi Masaki." She looked at him thoughtfully, "Are we related, or something?"  
  
Tenchi gaped at his female twin in shock and searched for something to say, all the while thinking, 'Washu, I hope you fix things soon.'  
  
"So you're Ryouko's co-parents?" the taller Washu asked the newly arrived pair of Washu and Yume. Several different Washus and Yumes were gathered around and on the machine, working on different parts all at the same time.  
  
"Yes," Washu nodded, taking Yume's hand in hers.  
  
"Well, I'm co-wife of Emperor Tenshi of Jurai, along with Mihoshi," the tall Washu explained to them cheerfully.  
  
Work actually stopped for a moment as they all exclaimed, "Mihoshi?!"  
  
"You have my sympathies," the first Washu remarked with a smile.  
  
"Oh, Mihoshi isn't that bad," the taller Washu smirked knowingly.  
  
At that remark there was a group sweatdrop. "It was quite difficult matchmaking her and Kiyone on my world," yet another Washu noted as she tried to change the subject, "but that was more due to Kiyone's stubbornness."  
  
"That seems to be a constant," Washu noted, still holding her lover Yume's hand, "Kiyone is stubborn as lead Captain of Ryouko's fleet in our world, too."  
  
The first Yume asked her counterpart softly, "Is it good, being with Washu?"  
  
"I would not trade her for anything," was the other Yume's answer.  
  
Sounding quite cross a third Yume asked the others, "Could we all please stop gossiping and get back to work?"  
  
From underneath the machine they heard a voice cry out, "I've got it!"  
  
A very grubby Yume and Washu wiggled out from underneath the Dimension Tuner, quickly hopping to their feet. "I think we can end this by reversing the first distortion," Washu exclaimed.  
  
"If we send the elder Sasami back home," the greasy Yume continued, "the alternate selves should return to their own worlds." They soon got whom they thought were the original inhabitants of the house together to explain the situation, but didn't receive enthusiastic support.  
  
"But I don't want to go home yet," the adult Sasami complained, keeping a firm grip on the struggling Ryouko's arm.  
  
"Yeah," little Sasami said tearfully, "she still has recipes to teach me."  
  
"Besides," the older Sasami pouted, "it's so fun teasing Ryouko."  
  
"But wouldn't you rather be with me?" an amused sounding voice asked her as she passed through the wall into the living room.  
  
Yet another Ryouko stood there, on the surface looking much the same as her many other selves. The greatest difference seemed to be in her eyes, a relaxed, merry twinkle shining within. This older woman was happy, and it showed.  
  
"Ryouko!" Sasami cried, letting go of the younger Ryouko and leaping up to run to her love. Her Ryouko held her close, and they kissed passionately.  
  
"I was worried about you," Ryouko murmured, gently stroking Sasami's hair.  
  
The younger Ryouko looked at the two of them, an odd expression on her face. "They really are in love..." she muttered to herself softly.  
  
Sasami smiled, "Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted." She looked over at her younger self, "Remember what I told you."  
  
"I will," little Sasami nodded.  
  
"I'm ready," the elder Sasami said to Washu. A small device was placed on her brown, then activated. Sasami and her Ryouko both slowly faded away.  
  
Around the room the alternate versions disappeared, leaving Yume, Washu, and the others standing there bemusedly. "I sort of wish the elder version of myself stayed around," Ryouko muttered to herself softly.  
  
"Why?" Tenchi asked.  
  
"I'd like to have known how I could have ended up with Sasami," Ryouko admitted.  
  
"I wonder if the elder Sasami told our version," Ayeka said, looking around for Sasami.  
  
"She went into the kitchen," Yume volunteered. She walked over to where Washu was standing, "Could I talk to you a moment?"  
  
"Sure," Washu smiled. Oddly, when they left the room they were holding hands.  
  
Washing the breakfast dishes, a humming Sasami smiled to herself mysteriously.  
  
Sometime in the future...  
  
Sasami and Ryouko cuddled together, watching the sun set. "Should you have told your younger self what you did?" Ryouko asked softly.  
  
"Would it surprise you to know I remember being told by my future self that you'd fall in love with me?" Sasami chuckled.  
  
"Explains why you took my proposal so well," Ryouko laughed. She looked thoughtful, "It was so easy falling in love with you, you know."  
  
"Really?" Sasami asked.  
  
"I fell without even knowing it," Ryouko smiled. "You were always so kind to me, so caring. Even when I lost my temper, you were there to help cool me down," she said softly, "and as you grew up, my own feelings deepened, affection becoming love."  
  
"It took you long enough to notice me," Sasami laughed.  
  
"You know," Ryouko said thoughtfully, "I missed you waking me up this morning."  
  
Sasami smiled, "Why don't we go to bed early, to make up for it?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Ryouko grinned. Arm in arm they walked inside together, firmly shutting the doors behind them.  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Yes, I know I've used the Dimensional Tuner in a fic before, but I didn't want to just make up some new device that Yume made, when there was already a perfectly good device in the Tenchi Universe Series.  
  
This is set in the Tenchi Universe and Tenchi Manga continuity. Roughly, anyway. I was inspired by a request for any Sasami/Ryouko fics, and the odd idea of Ryouko waking up with an adult Sasami in her bed just hit me. Originally I was going to do a standard time travel story, when it occurred to me that alternate realities might be involved. So, a x-over between all my Tenchi Muyo related fics was born!  
  
How likely is it that Ryouko and Sasami could get together? Ryouko regards Sasami fondly, but more as a big sister to little sister. Under the right circumstances, it could develop into something more, but in the episodes and mangas I've seen, they remain friends...  
  
The characters and stories in the crossover are: Empress Ryouko, her parents and Queen Ayeka are from my fic, 'Tenchi Muyo: Conquest!' The tall Washu along with the romantic Minagi and Sasami are from 'No need for Regrets.' The romantic Mihoshi and Kiyone, along with their Washu are from 'No Need for Dreaming.' The bartending Ryouko and Minagi are visiting from my series Arisugawa's Locket. The 'alone' Mihoshi is from the OVA series. The various Grandfathers are from OVA, TV and Manga series. 


End file.
